Charles Dickens

Hard Times

Warsaw 2017

Contents

BOOK THE FIRST. SOWING

CHAPTER I. THE ONE THING NEEDFUL

CHAPTER II. MURDERING THE INNOCENTS

CHAPTER III. A LOOPHOLE

CHAPTER IV. MR. BOUNDERBY

CHAPTER V. THE KEYNOTE

CHAPTER VI. SLEARY’S HORSEMANSHIP

CHAPTER VII. MRS. SPARSIT

CHAPTER VIII. NEVER WONDER

CHAPTER IX. SISSY’S PROGRESS

CHAPTER X. STEPHEN BLACKPOOL

CHAPTER XI. NO WAY OUT

CHAPTER XII. THE OLD WOMAN

CHAPTER XIII. RACHAEL

CHAPTER XIV. THE GREAT MANUFACTURER

CHAPTER XV. FATHER AND DAUGHTER

CHAPTER XVI. HUSBAND AND WIFE

BOOK THE SECOND. REAPING

CHAPTER I. EFFECTS IN THE BANK

CHAPTER II. MR. JAMES HARTHOUSE

CHAPTER III. THE WHELP

CHAPTER IV. MEN AND BROTHERS

CHAPTER V. MEN AND MASTERS

CHAPTER VI. FADING AWAY

CHAPTER VII. GUNPOWDER

CHAPTER VIII. EXPLOSION

CHAPTER IX. HEARING THE LAST OF IT

CHAPTER X. MRS. SPARSIT’S STAIRCASE

CHAPTER XI. LOWER AND LOWER

CHAPTER XII. DOWN

BOOK THE THIRD. GARNERING

CHAPTER I. ANOTHER THING NEEDFUL

CHAPTER II. VERY RIDICULOUS

CHAPTER III. VERY DECIDED

CHAPTER IV. LOST

CHAPTER V. FOUND

CHAPTER VI. THE STARLIGHT

CHAPTER VII. WHELP-HUNTING

CHAPTER VIII. PHILOSOPHICAL

CHAPTER IX. FINAL

CHAPTER I

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL

‘Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!’

The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room, and the speaker’s square forefinger emphasized his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster’s sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s mouth, which was wide, thin, and hard set. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s voice, which was inflexible, dry, and dictatorial. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface, all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside. The speaker’s obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders,–nay, his very neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn fact, as it was,–all helped the emphasis.

‘In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!’

The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.

This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.